Religious tourism on rise in Grand Bahama

Last week, co-founders of Boardroom Performance Group, Larry and Patricia Cabaldon hosted their first ever-international summit here on the island of Grand Bahama.

Under the theme ‘Global Unity: Unifying the World Through Proven Leadership Principles’ the event attracted other international guests to our shores.

Included in the invited guest and presenters list for the summit were husband and wife duo Angela and Paul Pipersburgh, founders of Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, whom are no strangers to the island of Grand Bahama.

According to Religious Tourism Manager Debbie Huyler, summits and conferences such as the Cabaldons’ project are welcomed on the island as they ultimately benefit all parties involved.

“This and every conference are very important for the economy as they generate revenue for our country, especially the island of Grand Bahama. We are encouraging our partners to bring conferences here to Grand Bahama. Over the years we have seen an influx of conferences hosted here. As a matter of fact for 2016, our schedule is very hectic. As for the months of July to November, we have conferences scheduled back to back. The month of October is totally booked out.

“We have Bishop Henry Fernandez coming in, which has already guaranteed over 2,000 persons coming to our shores. That conference has been advertised since January on four major television stations, Impact Network, Inspiration Network, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and The Word Network.

“We also have the Kingdom Fabulous Conference slated for the end of September into the first of October; additionally there is the War Room Conference with Karen Abercrombie (Miss Clara), who starred in the movie. She will be here as well for the conference, just to name a few. “We are still looking for more conferences to be held here on the island. We are about to do a number of blitzing abroad, calling on some of the mega churches, just to introduce ourselves and hopefully generate more business for Grand Bahama. We can use as much as we can get,” informed Huyler.

Having held previous conferences on the island themselves Angela and Paul Pipersburgh, expressed excitement about the upcoming event to be held on the island this July.

Angela Pipersburgh gave an overview.

“We host an international women’s summit, entitled ‘Call to Greatness International Women’s Summit.’ This is our third year hosting it here. As a result of the summit, Pat and Larry Cabaldon attended and fell in love with Freeport. Subsequently, they are here again. We are definitely thankful and grateful for that.

“Women from as far as Australia have come to Freeport to be a part of the conference. We will be back here July 28- July 31 at the Grand Lucayan Resort. We are focusing primarily on women but we do have a lot of men that attend as well. Therefore, this year we are having something just for men. The theme for this year’s summit is, ‘Power and Purpose in a name, Part II,” said Pipersburgh.

She noted that it is important for persons to understand that every name has a particular meaning.

“Your name has significance to your purpose and your prophetic destiny. The name given to you by your parents, even though they may have not recognized it at the time, it was not given by accident. There is a divine purpose and assignment in your name. When you call a child a name, repeatedly, understand that in that name is their prophetic destiny. It is very important for persons to understand what your name means and the significance of it to your life,” she noted.

The Pipersburghs further expressed their excitement and love that they have for the island of Grand Bahama, in particular the city of Freeport.

“We came here a couple of years ago with the Ministry of Tourism on a familiarization (fam) trip. It was during the time of the recession. Things did not look anything like this but, in my heart, I remember saying to my husband that I was sensing that God was saying that this would be the new city. There is just something special about Freeport; something great and amazing that God is going to do. I encourage the residents of Freeport to recognize what they have, and the blessings in which they have.

“Sometimes, the very thing that is meant to bless us, we sometimes can curse because we are just so focused on what we don’t have, versus taking a few minutes to just recognize what we have and how great and awesome it is,” expressed Angela Pipersburgh.

It is the Piperburghs’ hope that Grand Bahama and its residents will live out their prophetic destiny.

“God has great things intended for Grand Bahama. I pray that there will be a sudden great awakening here and residents will recognize who they are, what they have and be thankful for it. God’s hand is on this island, which is why we keep coming back, bringing people from all around the world, here, to be a part of our summits.

The couple concluded by thanking the entire Ministry of Tourism team for their relentless commitment and dedication for the visitors to our shores.

“I want to thank everyone at the Ministry of Tourism. We could not have done this without them; Betty Bethel, Debbie Huyler, Pastor Eddie Victor, Minister Obie Wilchcombe and everyone at the Ministry. They all work their hearts out to make sure that every guest that we send here is taken care of. They go out of their way to ensure that we feel special. You do not find that anywhere else. I want to especially thank them and their team. They are just amazing,” concluded Angela Pipersburgh.